The bestselling classic that indelibly captures the life and times of one of the most brilliant and controversial military figures of the twentieth century. "Electric...Tense with the feeling that this is the authentic MacArthur...Splendid reading." -- New York Time. Inspiring, outrageous... A thundering paradox of a man. Douglas MacArthur, one of only five men in history to have achieved the rank of General of the United States Army. He served in World Wars I, II, and the Korean War, and is famous for stating that "in war, there is no substitute for victory." American Caesar examines the exemplary army career, the stunning successes (and lapses) on the battlefield, and the turbulent private life of the soldier-hero whose mystery and appeal created a uniquely American legend. William Raymond Manchester was an American author and biographer, notable as the bestselling author of 18 books that have been translated into 20 languages. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal and the Abraham Lincoln Literary Award. This may well be the best biography ever written. Douglas MacArthur, the famous general of the Pacific in WWII, the man who lost the American air fleet to Japanese bombs, and lost thousands of men in the Phillipines, who returned victorious, and became the ruler of an area larger than that controlled by the Romans at the height of the empire is a complex, tragic, and frustrating subject. Sometimes he is a military genius, sometimes he is lucky, and sometimes he is a pompus ass in the extreme. He was the mastermind of the successful Inchon invasion in Korea, but bungled most of the rest of the war, until he was fired by Harry Truman. MacArthur wanted to be president; he ended up as emperor of the Pacific.